| Tommy Cooper was born on March the 9th 1922 in CAE Philly, in South Wales. Although he was welsh, he made it into the big time in Devon, where his parents moved just after he was born. When Cooper was in Eygpt, he whipped off a waiters fez, due to not having a helmet to wear for an act. The fez had an excellent response from Tommy's audiences and became his act trade mark. After leaving the army in 1947, Tommy went on to a full time profession as a music hall stand up comic. On 24th December 1947, he made his television debut in Leslie Henson Christmas Show. After a while, Tommy's career dried up and he returned to live variety Theatre to try to get somewhere. By the mid 50's, Tommy went on to do one off TV specials such as Sunday night at the London Palladium and Saturday Showtime. After these, Cooper went on to do more shows such as Life with Cooper, Cooper Capers, and Cooper's half hour. He also made a guest appearence on The Billy Cotton Band Show and Parkinson. Tommy Cooper died live at her majesty's theatre on the 15th of April 1984, when he collapsed on stage. All the audience thought it was an act, until Tommy was dragged behind the curtain and died 10 minutes later on the way to the hospital. |